Syndicate: [connected] The Region's Movers & Shakers

[Steven Carlson <steve@isys.hu> (by way of Diana McCarty)]

{Greetings all,
This is an article that might be of interest to those of
us in the region. It is more about the business end of the net,
but Isys sponsers the Media Research Foundation with server space
and email accounts - and provided connectivity at MetaForum II,
which was the first event with public access to the net in Hungary.
 ~diana}


Connected
by Steven Carlson
---------

  Last week I took part in the Euroforum Central European E-commerce
  conference, held in Warsaw. I spoke about iSYS's experience selling
  goods and services on the Hungarian Internet, and my colleague, Brad
  Clemmons, spoke about the elements of good site design. These are
  subjects I've written about in past, and the columns are archived at
  <http://www.isys.hu/connected>.

  One reason I go to conferences outside of Hungary is to meet
  interesting people in my field. In this piece, I'd like to introduce
  you to three entrepreneurs who are defining the way business is done
  on the Internet in Central Europe.


***Expandia Banka, Czech Republic

  In May 1997, Jan Kala bought out an ailing Czech bank with the idea
  of converting it into an Internet bank. His bank, Expandia, launched
  services in June 1998 and in three months the bank has attracted
  3,000+ customers. Though Expandia still offers its customers the
  options of banking in person or by telephone, more than 90% of its
  transactions are carried out over the Internet. Most of the
  customers are Czech, and Expandia will likely see another spurt of
  growth once they begin marketing to Prague's sizable foreign
  community. Jan's goal is to attract a Western bank as a strategic
  partner.

  Amazingly, the story above only came out at the end of Jan's
  presentation, during an extended period of questions. Jan's
  presentation seemed to be aimed at bankers and investors, and seemed
  to discuss the Internet as a new service of Expandia, rather than
  the primary focus. I suspect that up to now, Jan has tended to down
  play the central role of the Internet in his bank. He comes off as a
  quiet, reserved, technical type of person who perhaps doesn't
  realize how press worthy he has become, and how useful a little
  publicity might be to building his business and finding that
  strategic partner. Stay tuned for more.

  http://www.expandia.com


***Seznam, Czech Republic

  Another regional success story is Ivo Lukacovic, who gave a
  presentation entitled 'How to Become a Millionaire, When You Are 22
  Years Old.' In 1996, Ivo launched a Czech searching service called
  'The List,' or in the Czech, 'Seznam.' The site now displays 6
  million pageviews per month, and this year will earn an estimated
  CZK 10 million (USD 330,000) in turnover. Ivo's lucky break came
  when two local cell phone operators decided to fight an advertising
  war on his site.

  Ivo realized he needed to work with local ad agencies to expand his
  sales. Last year he hired a rep with contacts at the major agencies,
  and saw his sales increase 50%. He estimates that last year 60% of
  all Internet ad sales in the Czech republic went through the
  agencies. Ivo estimates his local market will be worth CZK 30-50
  million this year (USD 1-1.6 million), with Seznam claiming more
  than a quarter of that revenue.

  Like other portal operators, Ivo knows he has to keep adding
  functionality to his service to encourage visitors to stay longer,
  return more often, and to generate more pageviews. Ivo is aware that
  US portals like Excite and Yahoo are looking at the region, but he
  reckons his Seznam has an advantage with its strong local brand
  identity. Ivo Lukacovic thinks he may one day have to compete with
  Excite, Yahoo or Infoseek, but more likely one of these companies
  will seek him out as a partner.

  http://www.seznam.cz


***Hipermarket, Poland

  Not all of this region's initiatives have met with such success. In
  July 1997, Wojciech Bogajewski opened Hipermarket, a retail-oriented
  web shop offering more than 25,000 products for sale. Hipermarket
  works as an agent between consumer and retailer, verifying each
  order over the telephone and relaying it to the geographically
  appropriate retailer. Wojciech charges a slight margin over the
  local retail price and guarantees delivery within 48 hours (two
  hours in the case of foodstuffs delivered within a major city.) The
  idea is bold, but Hipermarket may be too early for Poland.

  Although Wojciech won't disclose any figures, he says he doesn't
  expect any Internet shop in Poland to be profitable in the next few
  years. Interestingly, he is confident the technical obstacles to
  Internet commerce in Poland can be worked out, but he's pessimistic
  about the Polish mentality. Wojciech figures Poles view shopping as
  entertainment, and prefer the real life experience of visiting a
  mall. I might agree with that, considering the poor user experience
  offered at the Hipermarket site. Wojciech disclosed that the site
  was undergoing a redesign and he showed considerable interested in
  presentations discussing selling techniques, ad targeting and
  service customization. If Wojciech Bogajewski has the money and
  vision to continue refining his service he may be successful in
  establishing his brand before better-capitalized competitors arrive.

  http://www.totu.com


  Do these people represent a trend, or are they exceptions? It's too
  early to tell. The markets are small, and as frequently noted, the
  infrastructure is still underdeveloped. The biggest resource this
  region may have is human talent.

  These three entrepreneurs were not the only 'clued in' people at the
  conference. Here are a few other people you may be hearing about
  soon:

  Ivo Spigel's company, Mobile, runs Croatia's first Internet shop,
  selling mainly software, hardware and books.
  <http://shop.mobile.hr/>

  Microsoft Poland has two Internet visionaries, Albert Borowiecki and
  Tomasz Mieszkowski, working on a 'Intelligent City' style project
  outside of Warsaw.

  Paula Wasowska is Business Manager at Dell Poland putting together
  Dell's online retail effort. As an 'interactive marketing pioneer,'
  Paula works with the press, TV and radio putting a human face to the
  Internet for a Polish-speaking public.  <http://www.dell.com.pl>

  Finally, in the Czech Republic, Vlastimil Vesely is conducting
  Internet market research through the Technical University of Brno,
  and writes an E-Commerce newsletter (in Czech).
  <http://vip.fce.vutbr.cz>


  These and other regional Internet developers keep in touch over
  Online Europe, a moderated discussion list I've been running for the
  last four years. If you'd like to subscribe, send a mail to
  <mailto:europe-on@isys.hu>. No special commands required. Please
  come and join the discussions!


___________________________________________________________________

Steven Carlson is Chief Strategist at iSYS Hungary Kft
http://www.isys.hu
http://pk4.com
361.266.6090

to subscribe:    <mailto:connected-on@isys.hu>
to unsubscribe: <mailto: connected-off@isys.hu>
http://www.isys.hu/connected

Copyright (c) 1998. Steven Carlson <steve@isys.hu>
reserves the right to be identified as the author of this work.
The views expressed here are not necessary those of iSYS Hungary.
Forward freely with this notice attached.